Catch up or listen on-demand with the best of Radio Bimshire - the Voice of the Barbados National Library Service (https://bit.ly/radiobimshire). Radio Bimshire Presents is a selection of short stories, poetry, history, rare audio clips and humour - the sound of Barbadian heritage. Featuring: This Barbadian Life: real voices, true stories, only in Barbados; Off The Shelf: Readings of Barbadian writing; Reparations Revealed; Standpipe: Memories of Wash Day; Sounds of Freedom: Stories of Emancipation... and much more.
What makes a short story come alive on radio? In this concluding episode of Writing the Short Story, Radio Bimshire explores Timothy Callender’s A Surprise for Agnes, a tale of family expectations, religious respectability and a revelation that changes everything.
Following our episode on Dorothy Lovell’s The Shoe, we turn to Callender’s craft to explore gripping openings, distinctive voices, vivid settings and endings that stay with the listener. Through excerpts read by Alfred Pragnell, discover how dialogue, nation language, pacing and shifting perspectives build character and suspense—without giving away the surprise.
Presented by Julius Gittens, with practical writing tips from English teacher Jennifer St. Louis, this episode invites you to move from listener to storyteller and write your own original story rooted in the Barbadian experience.
Produced by Radio Bimshire, the voice of the National Library Service, in celebration of the Patriotic Pen series and the Timothy Callender Memorial Short Story Prize. Dedicated to Alfred Pragnell.
4 Oct 2026
Writing the Short Story - “The Shoe”
“The Shoe” by Dorothy Lovell is the subject of Writing the Short Story , the first of two programmes exploring how powerful fiction can be shaped in just a few pages.
Using Lovell’s 1967 Barbadian short story as its guide, the programme breaks down the essentials of memorable short fiction: an arresting opening, a vivid sense of place, believable characters, a focused conflict, strong narrative voice and an ending that resonates. Discover how a seemingly ordinary object — a discarded shoe — can become the centre of suspense, superstition and village tension.
This episode is for aspiring writers, students, readers and anyone inspired by Barbadian storytelling. The first of the National Library Service's *Patriotic Pen* series of awards honours the best short story writing with the Timothy Callender Memorial Short Story Prize to be awarded on November 7, 2026.
Produced and presented by Julius Gittens
Reader Alfred Pragnell
Writer's tips by Jennifer St Louis
28 Sept 2026
The Lessons Between The Songs - Gabby and Sparrow
The Lessons Between the Songs is an extraordinary intimate portrait of two masters of the art of kaiso - in tribute to Trinidad and Tobago’s Mighty Sparrow, Gabby offers memories and rare insights in an impromptu conversation, recorded in December 2025. Slinger Francisco - the Mighty Sparrow - died peacefully in New York on Sunday, September 27, 2026 surrounded by his family, aged 91. Produced with John Downes, Amour Chandler, Lamar Nicholls and Adrian Archer. Produced and presented by Julius Gittens in a special memorial to the Calypso King of the World.
Who has been a guest on Radio Bimshire Presents
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Dr Henderson Carter
Edward Kamau Brathwaite
G Addinton Forde
Trevor G Marshall
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Podcast Authority Score: 42 / 100
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